FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT WESTERN AUSTRALIA - PAGE 4

SYDNEY, March 6 (Reuters) - Crash Sydney parties, eat and drink your way across Western Australia, and dive in the tropical sea to your heart's content. All of this, plus a salary, can be yours if you get one of Australia's "Best Jobs in the World. " The new campaign is modelled on the wildly successful 2009 campaign by tropical Queensland for the job of caretaker on an island along the Great Barrier Reef - and has already surpassed the original, with more than 80,000 applications in days.

SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell and BP are considering the sale of refineries and petrol stations in Australia to free up cash, the Australian Financial Review reported on Tuesday. Royal Dutch Shell are in talks with two parties - an unnamed large private equity firm and a consortium including investment bank Macquarie Group - over the A$3 billion ($2.69 billion) sale of 900 petrol stations and its refinery in Geelong, the Australian Financial Review said, citing sources, who described the talks as "preliminary".

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Specialty chemicals producer Rockwood Holdings Inc said it would buy lithium producer Talison Lithium Ltd for C$724 million ($729 million) in cash to strengthen its lithium business. Rockwood said it will pay C$6.50 per Talison share - a 53 percent premium to the stock's Wednesday close on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Rockwood, which has been betting on the increasing demand for lithium ion-based batteries, has said it expects battery-grade lithium products to show double-digit sales growth this year.

Many travelers contemplating driving campers in Australia's outback have been put off by the remoteness of the region and concern about engine breakdowns in the wild. The worry is solved by two camper safaris, each accompanied by qualified mechanics, that leave Melbourne at the end of July for some of the most scenic but isolated areas of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The safaris-or caravans, as the Australians call them-are limited to 30 campers each and will cover 9,300 miles in 60 days.

Britain's Ministry of Defense admitted Saturday it had used British and Commonwealth servicemen in radiation experiments in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. A spokesman for the ministry said 18 officers had been exposed to low-level radiation to test the effectiveness of protective clothing during experiments in Australia. He denied the men had been used as guinea pigs, saying each had given his consent to the experiments. The admission came after a researcher from Scotland's Dundee University unearthed documents that showed the ministry had tested men. The government previously denied any servicemen had been deliberately exposed to radiation.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia captain Michael Clarke batted with a broken shoulder on the recent tour of South Africa and has been advised to rest, ruling him out of the domestic first class final later this week, Cricket Australia said on Monday. Clarke, who led his side to a 2-1 test series victory over South Africa, was struck on the left shoulder during the third test in Cape Town earlier this month yet still went on to make 161 not out in the tourists' first innings. "We have since done a series of scans that have demonstrated a fracture near his shoulder joint," Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in a statement.

It is not one coral reef but a string of nearly 3,000 reefs and islands of various sizes off the northeast coast of Australia, most under the protective watch of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Is it the world's best diving reef? That's like trying to pick the world's best pizza. For sure, at more than 1,200 miles it is the longest system of reefs anywhere, which for sport divers, snorkelers and marine biologists makes it The Ultimate Coral Reef. Given its size, accessibility and tourism infrastructure, no other reef area can match its diversity of coral (400 species)

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Australia rejected a A$2.8 billion ($2.6 billion) takeover of GrainCorp by U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland on Friday, bowing to pressure from grain growers in a rare and surprising decision. Here are details on companies controlling grains infrastructure in Australia, the world's No.2 wheat exporter and a major supplier of food to fast-growing Asian markets. GrainCorp GrainCorp owns 280 grain receival sites on Australia's east coast, capable of accepting more than 21 million tonnes of grain a year and servicing more than 10,000 grain growers.

Robert Hughes, the Australian-born art critic, underwent a 12-hour operation overnight Saturday after being seriously injured in a car crash in Australia's remote outback. Hospital officials pronounced Hughes in "serious but stable" condition early Sunday. The veteran Time magazine critic, author and broadcaster had suffered multiple fractures but did not appear to have sustained any head or spine injuries. Hughes was involved in a head-on collision on a highway near the northwestern city of Broome late Friday.